we are so fucking back boys

When Lou really puts his all to it, my god can he be a brilliant performer. Rock 'n' Roll Animal is a spectacular live-album from Reed that showcases the essence of his artistry in the most striking way possible, with a short list of only 5 tracks that richly expand some of Lou's greatest classics from across his career. The 40 minutes are here are pretty much all killer, and what I adore so much about this too is just how far-reaching the track selection is and how well he manages to balance ... read more

[EDIT 83-->86]: I'm actually returning to this way more than I initially expected, so I think it's fair that I'll admit to being at least a few degrees wrong about it. I'm still not as mindblown as everyone else, but I get a lot of pleasure from relistening to this over and over again, and the highlights get better with each listen. I'll also recede on the cover. It's still ugly, but the aesthetic has gotten so iconic and established that I can't hate on it ... read more

Sam Cooke's Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964 might just be the greatest compilation record ever assembled, and I mean that with all my heart. This is a very comprehensive list of 30 tracks that offer a sweeping look at a man who was possibly the greatest singer of all time (in my mind at least, he claims the title), with a variety of songs grabbed from all places of his tragically short career, presenting him from each and every angle, but always from his best side. While Cooke has some fantastic ... read more

when david lynch posted that tweet about something exciting coming up, I was hoping for some movie or tv stuff but ill take what I can get I guess

A lot of the big white Jazz artists of this time don't really excite me, this is not really a comment on their skill or whatnot, just an observation to give context why I haven't listened to a lot of artists like Brubeck or Evans, but I must admit that Time Out is a pretty sweet project. It's a very simple, soothing and easy listen, and also almost too Cool for its own sake as a Cool Jazz album, but this is also one of the few of this sort of record that really is able to engage me with more ... read more

Just an album that makes you want to scream "AHHH IS THIS PRETTY!!!! WOAH, THE WORLD IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!! OH MY GOD THIS IS SO SWEET AND WHOLESOME AND MOVING AND WOOOOOWWW!!!!", you know what I'm sayin?

I've literally been listening to Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You for the last year or so, I discovered Adrianne Lenker's Songs around summer 2023 and fell in love with her writing, and after I was finished with that project, I decided to give her band's music a try, and in a ... read more

Holy fucking shit, why is this not more popular? This is easily one of Miles Davis' greatest Live albums of all time, the energy on this project is just off the charts and the pieces have such driving force and ferocity that I was gripped from start to finish. I don't know which personnel is correct, because I've seen multiple ones, but man, Chick Corea and/or Keith Jarrett on keys is just the heart of this project that holds everything together. A lot of the stuff on here reminds me of some of ... read more

hardest album cover of the year

Iglooghost was not an artist that I was familiar with before this project, and I can't say that I'm a new big fan now, but I certainly enjoyed what I listened to. I'm a fan of electronic music, but what he does on Tidal Memory Exo contains quite a large variety of genres and switches styles on nearly every track, so some stuff on here connected really strongly with me, but other stuff sort of passed me by without leaving much an impression. A lot of the music on ... read more

Even as a passive Mach-Hommy-hater, I must admit that his album is pretty fantastic. It's not that I had an active dislike of him, but his entire persona with the expensive prices on his website and his purposefully opaque approach to limiting his accessibility through DMCA'ing lyrics and so on left a bad taste in my mouth for a while, plus his music never convinced me of the outwardly pretentious way of presenting himself. I haven't listened to him a whole lot, and he drops a ton of music, but ... read more

The first Alice Coltrane record to TRULY blow me a away. I've liked all I heard so far, her gentle vision of Spiritual Jazz has continued to be very soothing, lush and magical, the more out-there, dark and exciting Universal Consciousness then made me realize that an experience with her music can be a lot more than just something that puts you in a blissful state, and Lord of Lords now has truly made me feel something unique. Half of this is barely even Jazz to be honest, a lot of it is just ... read more

The idea of a new Vince Staples album just really popped up out of nowhere around a week ago, and here we already have it in front of us to listen to, and I'm just gonna come straight out to say that this might be his best work yet. Sure, some of his stuff from the last decade is more daring and distinct than the vision is on Dark Times, but in terms of craft and skill, this is most likely the best he's ever put out. I mean, he's just sliding on this really rich and eclectic production, but ... read more

Yeah, this is like the safest pick Apple could've ever done for number 1, this is like the least unlikeable album of all time. It's this and Stevie Wonder's Songs In The Key of Life, those are the only two that I cannot imagine anybody not liking. You just can't be mad at this placement, and I saw it as an opportunity to give this the full listen it deserves, because I've only ever tried listening to the first track but never thoroughly got into it, but thankfully, I get it now. This album is ... read more

Good record, but far from a highlight in Coltrane's discography. It's easily in his career, so he's still trying to find his sound, and collaborating with Milt Jackson on a record is definitely a sweet addition on the side to his catalog, but the actual material on here is just very simple, neatly performed Cool Jazz and Bebop. It's short, and all tracks are able to capture a certain sense of atmosphere that I enjoyed dwelling in, but I can't say that I enjoyed it to the extent that I enjoy ... read more

Love that Trent is still out here doing the same bridled and exhilaratingly horny Tech-Electro Club music over 30 years later

I've always admired Billie Eilish and Finneas for their creativity and daring tendencies within the realm of Pop music, and while I'm not always entirely in love with every single thing within the projects they release, there are always moments and hints of incredible greatness in there. I've never rated an album of hers on here because I just haven't listened enough, but a song like the title track off of Happier Than Ever is one of the best songs of the decade so far. What I've also liked is ... read more

I've enjoyed Julia Holter from a far but not really entirely gotten into any of her albums yet (though I adore a lot of what is on Have You In My Wilderness), but her releasing a new project this year definitely felt like a good excuse to finally talk about her on here. Something in the Room She Moves is... a crazy, weird, gorgeous and absolutely baffling album. I'm being honest when I say this is easily one of the most confusing albums I've heard in the last few years, which is so surprising ... read more

Late-era Coltrane never ceases to excite me, and Meditations is another testament to his amazing creative output in his last few years of life. While his Spiritual- and Free-Jazz ranges widely in terms of sound and ambition, one thing you can always rely on is an intense focus on erratic emotion and chaos, chaos that feels as though it's transcending the realm of music, and that's why Coltrane considered his work to be of spiritual power. It's interesting how the two greats of this era, in ... read more

Connla's Well definitely improves on a lot of fronts that I found to be a little underwhelming in Maruja's last EP. The mixing and general sound of the production is much more refined and crisper, and the explosive moments feel less overbearing and narrow now. The progressions of these tracks are also something that I found to be a bit more rewarding than a majority of Knocknarea, it may not be as adventurous and grand as the material on there but much more effective and gripping.

Specifically ... read more

Definitely not the greatest John Coltrane record, but easily a top tier one, and most likely my favorite pre-Spiritual/Avant-Garde/A Love Supreme record from him. Especially that first piece is just absolutely jaw-dropping, one of his best recordings ever, and the rendition of Greensleeves as well as the third track are quite fantastic also.

It's hard to say what makes this record so good, I often have more to say about Jazz records that are more experimental because there is more room to ... read more